Home Coming (A Bethyl AU set post WWII)
by R-O-T-B-T-D16
Summary: The war with Germany has ended and everyone is celebrating! Everyone but Beth Greene that is. After losing her brother and mother in the same year, she says she is done with everything, but then she meets returned soldier Daryl Dixon, who claims to have made a promise to her brother that he would take care of her. (Rated M for language and possible smut in the future)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

When Beth Greene got up late on Sunday evening, she felt drained, which was unusual compared to her typical sing-song behavior. This happened every now and then for reasons that usually were unknown to the rest of her family, but in this particular case, anyone in the Greene house could guess why.

The war was won, and everyone was coming home!

Everyone- Except for Shawn Greene.

The letters from the only son of the Greene house had stopped coming a few months ago, and week after they had, a telegram came from the United States army, along with a neatly folded American flag and two soldiers from the home base looking very sad. They lost their mother to sorrow only a month later.

So while everyone was going out and dancing with the newly returned soldiers, Beth stayed home with her father. Every uniform reminded her of the one her brother had left in, and it set her in a sadness that she knew no one wanted to be around. Besides all that, her father's soothing voice was always a comfort for her, and she liked spending time with him. It's not like she was much of a party girl anyway.

Maggie was always trying to get her to go out and let loose. Drink all her troubles away if she wanted. Just anything besides moping around the house all day! But Maggie didn't understand Beth's greif. The eldest Greene sister had always been good as separating certain parts of her life from one another, making her problems easy to handle. And it did help that her husband Glenn had come home safe and sound, making things a little more cheery at the farm house, even for Hershel, who had lost his son and his wife in the same year. The family seemed to be putting more focus onto the couple, maybe because it seemed to be the only good thing that came out of the war for the family, but it still didn't help Beth's attitude much.

She and Shawn had been very close. Always looking after one another, even during the moment where it seemed like they couldn't stay in the others company a moment longer. So while she was very, very, happy for her older sister, she just couldn't detach herself that easily.

"Beth!" Maggie called, knocking swiftly on the blonde's bedroom door. She would've just walked in if the door hadn't been locked. "Beth, it's nearly lunchtime, you best get your sorry britches out of bed before me or Daddy knock this door down and drag you out!"

Beth pulled the covers over her head. "Go away Maggie! Just leave me alone!"

"Like hell I will! You promised me you would spend an hour down at the club, and I expect you to keep that promise young lady!" Maggie sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Beth squeezed her eyes shut, and curled up into a tight little ball.

She had promised her sister she would do this… And she didn't like breaking promises. Didn't like breaking peoples trust. Especially that of her family.

"If you let me in, I'll even help you pick out a dress," Maggie said sweetly.

"Now I really don't want to let you in," Beth replied.

"Oh come on, you're not still mad about that whole fiasco from three years ago, are you?" Maggie asked.

"Yes," came Beth's sharp reply.

During her fifteenth birthday three years ago, Maggie had relentlessly insisted that Beth wear a very specific dress that Maggie had picked out for her to her party with her friends, and it had looked beautiful! On the front, at least.

It was white with a pretty navy-blue lace collar and the same lace lining the bottom.

But on the back of the dress, right across her shoulder blades, the elder Greene had written, "fifteen pinches for the birthday girl!", in bright red ink. You couldn't have missed those words unless you were blind. Beth didn't get it until Jimmy said something about it nearing the end of the night, but by that time, people had pinched her till she looked like she'd rolled down a rocky hill. She recognized Maggie's handwriting right away, and didn't speak to her sister until all the bruises had faded, which didn't happen for two whole weeks.

Maggie rolled her eyes and resented her stubborn little sister for a moment. "Okay, fine. I can live with you not letting me help you, but for the love of everything good in this world, would you please, Beth Greene, come out and have a little bit of fun?" There was no sound of movement in Beth's room. "Do you really think Shawn would've wanted you to sit inside all day and mope about his death? You should be out in the world, living your life! Finding a nice guy, and falling in love!"

Suddenly Beth opened her bedroom door and stared right into Maggie's eyes.

"Maggie, first of all, please don't use Shawn to blackmail me into going with you-"

"I wasn't-" Maggie interrupted.

"You were," Beth cut in right back. "And secondly…" Beth held her breath for a moment as she considered her decision for the hundredth time in the last few minutes. "I'll go."

Maggie's eyes lit up and she wrapped her arms around her little sister. "Really?"

"Just to get you off my back," Beth added quickly.

"That's fine with me! As long as you don't spend another weekend night at home alone!" Maggie smiled as she made her way into Beth's bedroom. "Now, did you really want to pick something out yourself, or will you let your big sister help?" Maggie flashed her a toothy grin and Beth couldn't help but smile. Maggie's happiness was contagious.

"Alright," Beth said, giving in and walking over to her wardrobe, opening it up proudly. "What should I try on first?"

* * *

><p>Daryl couldn't think straight, and it wasn't just because of the liquor in his system. He couldn't get that kid's words out of his head.<p>

"Please… Take care of my sister."

It rattled him like nothing ever had before, and sent him blazing into a flurry of questions.

Merle had just told him to forget about it, to simply leave it be, that it wasn't his fucking problem anyway. Before everything he had seen at war, he might've thought the same way, but he couldn't. He had given Greene his word, and damn it all to hell if he wasn't going to keep it.

He decided quickly that despite the fact that Daryl wanted to have faith in his brother, Merle would be no help in this matter, so he decided to go to the closest person to him besides his brother, former General, now Sheriff, Rick Grimes.

He had served under Rick as his Sergeant for nearly the entire war. They had seen devastating things together, had fought side by side, had saved each other's lives multiple times, and had cried tears of joy together when the war ended, when the suffering was declared over.

Of course, Daryl was very aware that war would always be around, and that people would always be dying, and some doing, or experiencing, terrible things... But his hell, for that moment at least, was over. Now, he had a job to do, and he needed his General's help.

When Rick opened the door to his home, a sense of nostalgia washed over Daryl, and he resisted the urge to salute.

Rick seemed happy to see him, but also surprised. "Daryl? How're you doing? What are you doing here?" Rick asked as they shook hands.

"'M pretty good. It's weird to be home… But I'm gettin' used to it again. Slowly," Daryl replied, trying not to think of the nightmares he had almost every night. The ones that, during the war and before that, had been about his father's beatings, but had now transformed into terrifying reminders of his time overseas. "But, 'm actually here for a favor," Daryl said.

"Anything for you, Daryl," Rick said, gesturing for his comrade to come inside. Daryl accepted with a curt nod and came into the very nice house.

He showed Daryl into the parlor and they say down in some nice chair that faced only slightly away from one another.

"What do you need, Dixon?" Rick asked, resting his arms on his knees and leaning forward.

Daryl shifted uncomfortably. "You, uh… You remember Greene?" Daryl asked.

Rick's face fell considerably when the name left Daryl's lips. "Yeah, the young man we couldn't-" Rick closed his mouth up tight, and they both let a moment of silence pass between them as they remembered the young man, pain clear on their faces.

"Yeah… You 'member what he said to me?" Daryl asked.

Rick shook his head. "Sorry, no. Why?"

Daryl swallowed hard, trying not to let the ache he felt control him. "He gave me this picture." He held the photo out for Rick to take. "And told me to take care of his sister."

Rick's face scrunched when he saw the picture; not because he thought the girl in the photo was bad-looking, but because he would know that pretty face anywhere.

"Well, isn't that something," Rick said, smiling a bit.

Daryl looked from Rick to the picture in his hand. "What?"

"When I saw his last name was Greene, I thought it was just a coincidence…" Rick's smile only broadened.

"You know this girl?" Daryl asked, now sitting on the edge of his seat.

"Sure I do. This is Beth Greene, she comes over and babysits Judith sometimes," Rick said, handing the picture back.

"Could you take me to 'er?" Daryl asked, happy that finding her had been so easy.

Rick's smile turned a bit sad then. "She hasn't been by lately, and Lori tells me it's because she took her brother and her mother's death pretty hard. Apparently she's barely left the house."

Daryl wiped a hand over his face. "Showin' up at the door might not be the best plan then…"

Rick smirked a bit. "Probably not," he replied.

Rick suddenly slapped his knees loudly, making Daryl look up.

"Maggie! Maggie Greene is her sister, and she's supposed to come downtown for the big party at the club tonight! Might not be Beth, but maybe she could convince her sister to talk to you," Rick smiled, obviously happy with his own wit.

"Why not? Might as well give it a shot," Daryl replied.

"But… Can I ask you one thing?" Rick asked. "Before I send you off to go talk to Maggie."

"Sure thang'," Daryl replied. "Shoot."

"How exactly do you plan to 'take care' of his sister?" Rick asked. "Are you gonna… Ya know. Marry her? What?"

Daryl froze, his eyes going wide. "Well shit…" he muttered. "I hadn't really thought that far… You know me. I ain't the marryin' type."

Rick laughed a little bit. "Well you better figure that one out damn quick, 'cause Hershel Greene don't take too kindly to any men hangin' 'round his baby girls."

Well, shit, Daryl thought begrudgingly, What have I gotten myself into?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

Beth had to admit, despite all her pushing and avoiding of getting dressed up and going out, she looked good in the dress she picked.

It was definitely one made for dancing, with a flowy bottom that stopped just a few inches below her knees. The collar of the dress was a bit more open than she normally would've picked out, but it didn't give any extra view of anything besides her collar bones, so she figured it was alright. It had a perfect waistline for her slender figure, and the color, a deep navy blue, was absolutely stunning. Beth had to admit, the dress even made her look a bit more her age.

"Jeez, Beth! Why haven't you worn this one before?" Maggie asked. She was seated in the loveseat opposite Beth's wardrobe mirror, already dressed and ready to go.

The parties around town tended to start early and end late into the night.

"I don't know…" Beth replied sheepishly. "Mom gave it to me, and at the time, I wasn't so sure I liked it. So I just kinda, hung it up here, and forgot all about it." The confession made Beth want to take the dress off.

"Well it makes you look fantastic!" Maggie said, getting up from the chair to stand next to her sister at the mirror. "You're sure to turn heads tonight! Maybe even a certain farm hands…" Maggie finished the sentence with a smile that set a sharp heat of blush to the blonde Greene's cheeks.

Beth shook her head, giving the elder Greene sister a small shove. "Stop it Maggie! Jimmy doesn't see me like that."

Maggie scoffed. "Like Hell he does. I caught him staring at you just last week! Glared at him while he did for nearly five minutes until he noticed me. Poor kid looked scared, like I might put him in a wheelchair or something."

"You could, if you had a good enough reason," Beth said, smiling a bit.

"And no boy who comes near you should forget that," Maggie said, wrapping an arm around her sisters shoulders and squeezing her gently. "I'm really glad you're coming tonight. Really. I just want you to feel like a normal girl."

"But I won't anyway," Beth said softly. "Whether it's home or out somewhere, everyone I know has a soldier home. A good friend, a family member, a boyfriend… It don't matter where I go Maggie. The only difference is, at the club, they'll play good music. I wanna listen, sing along."

Maggie kissed Beth's cheek lightly. "Alright, sounds good." Then she paused for a minute. "Well, wait a second! Why don't you sing tonight?"

Beth's eyes widened. "Sing? Me? At the club?"

Maggie nodded, grabbing Beth's arms. "You're such a great singer Beth! It would be a great way for you to just, have fun!"

Beth had to admit, part of her wanted to perform tonight. Maggie was right, music had been the only way she had really let go and just had a good time with anything. "Well…" Beth shook her head, surprised she had even considered it so seriously. "What would I even sing?" she asked.

Maggie thought for a moment. "What about that song by Benny Goodman and Helen Forrest that you like so much?"

Oh, Maggie wasn't playing fair… _Taking a Chance on Love _was one of her all time favorites, and she sounded good singing it too, compared to many of the other ones she knew at least.

Was she really going to do this?

Beth sighed. "Okay, why not?"

Maggie smiled happily. "Since that's the case I'll go tell Abraham to set up that song for you. You finish getting ready! I'll head down right now and me and Glen will be back to pick you up in an hour. Got it?"

Beth nodded. "An hour, got it." That would give her plenty of time to practice while she was getting ready. She really couldn't believe she was doing this. The last time she had performed on stage had been four years ago, granted that at the time she wasn't nearly as good as she is now, but it hadn't gone over very well.

When Beth heard Maggie leave the house completely, she turned her attention back to her reflection, frowning a bit. A little makeup would do her some good, along with brushing her hair nicely and maybe trying to smile a little bit. It was hard though. Everyday was hard, and it wasn't getting any better. She wished her family could help her, and she knew they were trying, but nothing seemed to improve her mood. Sometimes she wondered if she would perk up even if somehow, miraculously, Shawn came home.

She forced those thoughts out of her head, deciding that she would try and stay positive tonight, no matter how bad she was feeling.

She finished her makeup, settling with something simple on her eyes and some cherry red lips to match her dancing shoes. When Maggie and Glenn came to pick her up, she was all ready and well practiced. A little nervous lately, but mostly she felt okay.

When they got their the club was already bustling with people, and apparently, Beth was the opening act. She tugged a bit at the bottom of her dress, making Maggie wait for her as she let her nervousness ebb, just to have it rekindled as soon as she stepped through the front doors.

To Beth, somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt like tonight was really going to be something, despite the fact that she was out on the town and singing at the most popular club downtown. Something in the air just felt, different, light with things to come, and Beth was glad for it. She could ride the gentleness of the air through the night. For the first time in a long time, Beth felt good enough to dance through the night.

* * *

><p>Daryl didn't like crowded places, and club Ford certainly was crowded. The tables were placed pretty close together, and once all the seats were filled up, people lined themselves along the walls. Luckily, Daryl had snagged himself a bar stool, and he was fairly content with his spot, and the efficient service the club had. He could see almost everyone from his vantage point, everyone except the people who were going backstage. He hoped Maggie Greene wasn't a performer, because he wouldn't have known if she came here an hour ago or two seconds ago.<p>

He decided to wait patiently, he would be able to spot the girl with the description Rick had given him. Both Greene girls seemed pretty in their own right. Beth's looks he had seen, and Maggie sounded like a decent looking girl.

Daryl took out the picture of Beth, taking in her young face. She couldn't be more than fourteen in the picture. So how old was she now? Not that he was considering it, but was marriage even an option? Rick had seemed to think so.

Suddenly a guy tapped him on the soldier. He turned to see an oriental man, who looked a little confused to say the least.

"Can I help you?" Daryl asked gruffly, taking a sip of his Brandy.

"I'm sorry, but that picture…" The man was cut off by the house lights going off and the stage suddenly lighting up, a single microphone at center stage with a small band behind it.

A tall red headed man, who Daryl vaguely recognized, came out on stage, a smile twisting his mustache to look happy. "We've got a real treat for yall tonight folks! Here to perform Benny Goodman's _Taking A Chance on Love _is our very own Beth Greene! Give her a hand from coming up on such short notice, folks!"

As the crowd cheered, Daryl froze, the name giving him a good slap in the face, and the girl who came out, Jesus... He couldn't look away.

Her navy-blue dress made her skin stand out like marble and it hugged her in all the right places. Her blue eyes sparkled under the spotlight and those red lips looked too damn kissable, and as she swayed to the music, he felt himself wanting to dance.

And Daryl Dixon does not dance.

_This _was Shawn's little sister Beth Greene? He wished the guy had given him some warning that she was a damn angel on earth. He cursed out loud when she opened her perfect mouth and started singing, her voice too damn good for hometown bars.

"_Here I go again~_

_I hear those trumpets blow again,_

_All~ aglow again._

_Takin' a chance on love."_

Beth smiled as the crowd cheered for her, laughing when some of the boys she knew gave her wolf whistles, and for the first time in a long time, it was a real smile, and Daryl's heart was struck with the beautiful brightness of it.

_Here I slide again~_

_About to take that ride again,_

_Starry eyed again~_

_Takin' a chance on love."_

Beth felt a remarkably intense stare on her from bar at the back of the room, and cautiously moved her eyes to whomever it was making her feel like the only thing worth looking at in the whole room. Her eyes connected with a sharp blue stare that nearly made her trip over herself. Instead she recovered quickly, finding Jimmy near the front and giving him a sweet stare and a big smile. The man's stare never left her.

"_I thought the cards were a frame-up,_

_I~ never would try…_

_But now I'm taking that game up~_

_And the Ace of Hearts is high!"_

Part of him felt a little guilty that he was looking at Beth Greene in this way, but it's not like she looked like a little girl. Hell no, she looked like a damn woman. He had always pictured her as someone he would have to take care of, but this girl looked like she could handle herself just fine.

"_Things are mending now~_

_I see a rainbow blending now, _

_We'll have our happy ending now!_

_Takin; a chance on love~"_

The rest of the song was filled with stares passed back and forth between Daryl and the younger Greene daughter, him watching her intently, and her trying to decode the look the man had placed on her. She made the uncharacteristic decision to give him a cheeky wink as she walked off stage. She nearly started hyperventilating when she reached her sister out in the club, realizing that she had just flirted with a total stranger. A good looking stranger, but a stranger nonetheless.

If he wasn't honor bound to fulfill his promise, Daryl would've run out those club doors and never come back. This girl was too good. She was like this candlelight that seemed to warm him entirely, even with such a small flame burning. This was bad. How could he take care of such a pretty little thing if he ruined everything he touched?

"Excuse me?"

Daryl turned to see the Asian man from before looking at him seriously.

"Yeah?" Daryl snapped back.

"I'm sorry, but what business do you have with my sister in law?" The man asked.

Daryl blinked. "Wait… Are you Maggie Greene's husband?" he asked.

"Answer the question," the man said sternly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Suddenly, a pretty little brunette, who matched Rick description of Maggie Greene perfectly, stepped up, looping her arm with the man's. "Glenn, honey? What's the matter?"

"This guy's got a picture of Beth in his pocket," Glenn said, eyeing him suspiciously.

Maggie turned her green gaze to Daryl and gave him a similar look. "What do you want with my sister?" she demanded.

Daryl groaned, wondering how this had become such a fiasco. Maggie looked like she could easily "Look, before ya' hang me, hear me out," he said.

Maggie and Glenn glanced at one another but didn't say anything. So Daryl continued on.

He pulled the picture from his coat pocket and handed it to Maggie.

"I was with your brother… When 'e died. Me and my General, I think you know him, Rick Grimes. We tried to save him, but we got there too late." Daryl tried to ignore the pulling at his gut when Maggie put a hand over her mouth, her eyes glittering with tears. Glenn wrapped an arm around her and nodded for Daryl to continue. Daryl cleared his throat. "As he was dyin' he gave me this picture, and told me to take care of your sister… Now, I ain't sure what he meant by that, but I figure I'll just help out any way I can if you'll let me."

There was a moment as Maggie blinked the tears from her eyes. "I would like to say you could help, but it ain't up to me," Maggie looked across the room and Daryl followed her eyes.

Beth was talking with some boy about her age, and was smiling, but her eyes suddenly connected with his. She glanced down at the floor once she realized he'd caught her, but she quickly pointed her gaze back into his, smiling a bit.

"Beth's all grown up now, she can make her own decisions. I respect you comin' here with this, and bein' so honest with me, but it's her choice." Maggie offered the picture back and he shook his head. She shook hers back. "We got about a thousand pictures of that girl at home, keep it. My brother gave it to you for a reason."

Daryl hesitated, but took it with a nod.

Glenn still looked suspicious of him, but Daryl knew it was for a good reason. He could prove easily that he wasn't here to hurt little Beth greene. But there was something about the man's stare that accused him of something else as well…

"I'll go grab Beth," Maggie said. "You two wait here."

Daryl looked back to where Beth was standing, watching that little slip of a girl as she fidgeted with her dress.

He felt his hands get sweaty as he did, surprised that of all the things he should be feeling right now, nervousness was the one to take hold the most quickly.

This girl and the simple yet incredibly complicated task Shawn Greene had given to Daryl shouldn't scare him, not after all the thing he'd seen. Not after everything he'd done. But they did.

She did.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

When Daryl looked back over to Glenn, he couldn't help but feel as if he had seen him somewhere before. Rick had told him that Maggie's husband served just like they had, but he figured he would've remembered if he had met a man like Glenn out on the field. Daryl could tell just by this man's stance that he was loyal, well disciplined, and that he was the "settle down, raise of a few kids" type of guy, which Daryl respected, but he didn't appreciate the accusing look Glenn was giving him.

"I don't think I gave you my name," Daryl said, turning on his stool to face Glenn with a straight face. "'M Daryl Dixon." Daryl offered his hand.

Glenn hesitated, and a bit of surprise flashed across his features, but nonetheless he took Daryl's hand and shook. "Glenn Rhee. You spend time overseas? You're more polite than you look to be, honestly."

Daryl smirked a bit. "Yeah, got back last week."

Glenn nodded. "I got back only two weeks ago. Never felt better than anywhere besides with my girl. What about you? You got a girl waiting at home tonight?"

Daryl shook his head. "Nah, just an empty place and work in the mornin'," Daryl replied.

There was a long silence, and then… "You plan to take Beth home tonight?" Glenn asked, catching Daryl off guard.

"Da' fuck you talkin' 'bout?" he snapped, his face immediately boiling with anger. Sure, the girl was cute. Hell, he'd say beautiful, but he wasn't seeking her out for that. "I don't wan'na sleep with 'er!"

Glenn's expression remained pretty passive, which only made Daryl's angry boil under his skin. "Then what was all that staring about while she was on stage?"

"Any idiot knows a good voice when they hear one! Damnit, don't treat me like some lecher tryin' to get under some young girls' skirts!" Daryl groaned as he realized how loud their conversation had become, and he reverted to a seething whisper. "I ain't here because I want some cute little thing under mah' covers, I'm here because I made a promise to Shawn Greene as he was dyin' right before mah' eyes. If you can't trust my words, than you and I aren't gon' get along too well."

Glenn, to Daryl's surprise, smiled at him suddenly, and gave him a hearty pat on the back. "Thank God, Man. I was hoping that wasn't the case."

Daryl gave him a look that spoke his "what the holy mother of fuck is wrong with you" feelings towards Mr. Glenn Rhee.

"I'm sorry about the third degree, but these girls are my family, ya' know? I have to make sure they're safe and sound, well taken care of." Glenn smiled warmly at Daryl and he let the angry tension in his body slowly fade away. "You seem like a good man Daryl, at heart at least. Just don't hurt Beth in any way shape or form, otherwise, I can guarantee, I won't be the only man in town after your ass."

The two mens watched as Maggie and Beth made their way over.

Glenn smiled a bit. "And don't forget about Maggie. She'll kick your sorry arse into next week if you lay even one angry finger on her baby sister."

Daryl smirked a bit. "Yeah, I kinda figured as much."

When Maggie and Beth came close enough for introductions, Maggie led the way. "Beth this is…" She suddenly realized that she hadn't caught this man's name.

Daryl took over in a flash, holding his hand out for Beth to shake. "'M Daryl Dixon."

Beth took his hand, and Daryl couldn't help but notice the stark difference in the feel of their hands, his work worn and scarred, hers slender and unscathed.

"I'm Beth Greene, but Maggie tells me you already knew that," she said sheepishly. "She said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah," Daryl said. "And if you and your sister wouldn't mind, I'd like to step outside to speak to you. Don't know how much you'll wanna stick around after I tell you this anyway."

Beth blinked, suddenly looking worried. She glanced over at Maggie, who nodded in encouragement. With that her nerves settled a bit and she followed Daryl outside.

He wasn't too tall, she noticed. Taller than her obviously, she was even in heels, but he wasn't overly tall, and she kinda liked that. He was handsome too, with broad shoulders, a nice jawline and those intense blue eyes. She wondered briefly if he had come to romance her, which she decided she wouldn't mind at all. Jimmy was sweet, but he had never looked at her like this, Daryl Dixon, had.

Once they were outside, he pulled out a pack of smokes and held it up, asking silently if it was alright to light one. She nodded, exhaling audibly as she watched him light it.

She wasn't a fan of cigarettes usually, but watching him take a deep drag of that carefully wrapped poison made him look like the embodiment of painful love.

Daryl noticed her watching him and looked over at her curiously, a little bit of amusement sparkling in his eyes. "Honestly, I wasn't expectin' to speak with ya' tonight. Yer' sister yeah, but not you."

Beth smiled a bit. "Well, 'm here now. What is it you wanted to talk about?"

Daryl's amused expression faltered a bit and he threw his cigarette onto the ground, stepping on it to put it out. "It's about yer' brother, Shawn."

Her heart stopped beating. Or, it felt like it did. Her throat went dry and her eyes immediately went to the ground. Even the simple mention of his name off of this man's lips made the tears not prick, but jab at her eyes. She took a few deep breaths and tried to pull herself together, closing her eyes to force the tears back. Daryl left her alone while she obviously tried to regain her composure, feeling bad that he had brought such pain to this poor girl, but also not really knowing what else to do. He didn't like it when woman cried, it made him feel awkward and helpless, which were two emotions Daryl hated feeling.

When she felt finally felt ready to speak, she looked into Daryl's eyes, hoping he knew that she was thankful for the silence. He seemed to understand, grunting softly and nodding curtly in response.

"What about my brother?" she asked, pulling gently at her dress.

He pulled the picture out of his pocket and held it out to Beth, who took it hesitantly.

When she saw it, her eyes widened. "This is the picture I gave him before he left. Maggie gave him one too…"

"I was there, when 'e was dyin'," Daryl said carefully, not wanting to upset her again. "Gave me that picture, and told me to take care of ya'." His words were soft, and he hoped to God she wouldn't start crying, cause she sure looked like she might. "Not sure what 'e meant exactly, but, uh…"

All of a sudden the tears poured over her cheeks, and Daryl froze. She screamed as she cried, shoving Daryl backwards, and he was surprised at her strength. "He was supposed ta' come back and do that 'imself!" she cried, shoving him again. The first time it had been an easy recovery, but the second time she pushed him he nearly toppled over. "He was supposed ta' come back!"

Daryl saw Maggie come out of the club, running towards Beth to stop her as she began to pound on his chest in pure anger and genuine pain. As the elder Greene sister reached for Beth, Daryl stopped her with a hand up, and grabbed Beth's wrists with a few swift movements. She fell into him crying and he had to wrap an arm around her to keep her from falling and hurting herself.

He tried to get her to stand up by herself, but it seemed like she couldn't, to he just hooked an arm under her legs and lifted her up, carrying her Bridal style to Glenn's car to take her home. Glenn made it easier by pulling the vehicle closer to them.

He tried to put Beth in the back, but she refused to let go of his neck, sobbing something incoherent into his chest. She was shaking so bad, he worried about letting her go. Shawn had told him to take care of her, so he would do exactly that.

"Mind if I go with?" he asked Maggie. He was there to take care of Beth, yeah, but not in a way that would cause problems for any members of the Greene family. "She won't let me go."

Maggie looked to Glenn for guidance. "No harm in taking him to the farm, right? We should let the man who heard it from Shawn himself tell Hershel about this."

Maggie nodded, first to Glenn, then to Daryl, who seated himself in the back with Beth in his lap.

As they drove, Beth started to calm down. Her shaking slowly stopped, and he could hear her breathing even. By the time they got to the farm, Beth was fast asleep, snoring softly into Daryl's now tear soaked shirt. Glenn opened the door for them and Daryl moved slowly, afraid to wake her up. Maggie opened the door to the house and Daryl saw an older looking, who he assumed was Hershel Greene, watch him as he carried Beth into the house and up the stairs.

He set Beth onto her bed, practically prying her off of him. He looked around her room before leaving, noticing the sweetness that seemed to radiate from her choice of decorating. It fit her.

When he came down the stairs, Hershel, Maggie, and Glenn were waiting for him. He nodded to Hershel, who gave him a skeptical look. "Yer' one of the Dixon boys," Hershel said, looking him up and down.

"Yes sir," Daryl said quietly. "'M Daryl Dixon."

"Yer' brother Merle used to work for me as a farm hand," Hershel said. "Had some bad manners, that one. Especially around young ladies."

Daryl cursed Merle silently for potentially making the fact that he was a Dixon an issue. Not that it hadn't been every day of his life up till that point, but Merle going around mouthing off didn't help anybody. "'M sorry for whateva' he did Mr. Greene," Daryl said, angry that he felt the need to apologize for his brother. ""E didn't mean nothin' by it."

"I know," Hershel said simply. "Don't think that I will put you on his level there, young man."

Daryl gave him a confused look. He hadn't been called young man since he was at least twenty five, but compared to Hershel Greene, he was sure he looked like a young man.

"I don't judge people by their families, Mr. Dixon, even if they've come from families with reputations like yours," Hershel continued, watching Daryl carefully. "You don't seem like your brother, and you definitely don't seem like your father." Daryl had never received such a wonderful compliment. "Maggie tells me you and I have some things to discuss."

When Beth woke up, she was lying on top of her bed, her party dress still on, and her makeup smeared on her pillow. She got up quickly, changing into a more casual dress, and wiping as much make up off of her face as possible.

She felt embarrassed, tired, and most of all, sad. She had been happy for a brief moment, as the song had taken her into a world of love and happiness. Where she could take a chance on something that seemed so out of reach. And then that man, Daryl Dixon, as handsome as he was, had bursted her bubble with just the mention of her brother's name. She had hated him in that moment, yet couldn't help but cling to him like a lifeline.

Shawn had told Daryl to take care of her. Had they known each other during the war? Obviously. But how well? Daryl had been there when he died. Could he had saved him? Was it Dayrl's fault Shawn was dead? Is that why he felt so responsible for her all of a sudden?

Beth's head was starting to hurt.

Beth heard her door creak and she turned to see her dad in the doorway. He was watching her carefully, obviously unsure whether he should say was he clearly wanted to.

"Is Mr. Dixon still here?" she asked quietly, remembering vaguely his unmistakably broad form leaving her bedroom at some point not long ago. Or maybe it was? Sleeping always warped her sense of time.

"Yes, he is," Hershel said, noting the way she tensed with his answer. "He told me everything."

Beth looked into his eyes and walked over to him, showing her uncertainty in her blue gaze. "Do you think he's tellin' the truth Daddy?" she asked. "I mean, we don't really know him."

"I know him well enough, and he says that if I'm not sure whether to trust him, he'll be willing to prove himself," her father replied.

She moved her gaze to the floorboards, taking in the creases and lines she knew too well. "What does he want Daddy?"

"He wants to hold true to his word, Bethy," Hershel said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Neither of us is sure what Shawn meant by what he said, but he meant it nonetheless. We have to honor his dying words."

"Why me?" Beth asked quietly, more to herself than to anyone else. "I mean, I guess I see why. Maggie has Glenn, and I don't really have anyone that way. But, I don't think Mr. Dixon wants to marry me. I don't think that's what he wants. I have you, Daddy. That's enough for me right now. I can take care of myself well enough."

Hershel sighed. "There is nothing I want more, or less, than to see you be happily married one day, but I don't think you have to worry about that with Mr. Dixon. He seems to just want to keep an eye on you. Be a… Protector, of sorts. Since we don't really know what Shawn meant by what he said, we just have to work with what we have."

Beth nodded, wondering what this whole thing will entail for her.

"I've offered to let him stay at the farm, but I told him I'd have to talk to you first," Hershel said, and Beth met his gaze again. "He has to work most days, which is fine with me since I'm not going to let him stay here for free, and I told him he doesn't have to worry too much. You don't leave the house much anyway." Beth blushed, knowing how that must have sounded. It wasn't that she was afraid to leave her home or something like that, she just wasn't ready to go out every night and see all the soldiers that had come home. Watching them just made her think of how Shawn hadn't made it back.

"I don't see why he can't," Beth replied, trying to smile despite the endless confusion that was now mixing with her sadness. "So long as he cleans up his own messes, right?"

Hershel smiled. "That's right."

"Could I talk to him?" Beth asked, suddenly feeling very ashamed of how she had reacted to what he had said.

Hershel took a deep breath. "Sure Bethy, he's on the front porch."

She kissed her dad's cheek before going down the stairs. She saw Maggie and Glenn in the kitchen, obviously having a conversation about everything that was happening. Part of her felt the urge to pull Maggie away from Glenn. She desperately need some sister time, but in the end, she decided that she and Maggie could talk plenty later. She needed to apologize to Daryl.

When Daryl heard the door open, he turned to see a blonde head poking out of the doorway. He took a slow drag of his cigarette, watching her as she moved out completely onto the porch.

"Am I interrupting and important thoughts?" she asked.

Daryl couldn't help the small smirk that formed with her question. "Nah, 'm not thinkin' 'bout much right now."

"Alright good," she said quietly.

For a moment he just watched her watch the yard. It was dark now, so he guessed she couldn't see much, but the look in her eyes said differently. She must have noticed he was looking at her because she turned her gaze to his and gave him a small smiled, but he could see the pain just under the surface of that expression.

"I'm sorry… 'Bout earlier," she said. "I shoved you. I hit you. I- I overreacted and 'm sorry."

Never in Daryl Dixon's life had someone apologized for pushing him around, and he stared at her with the most shock she had ever seen on anyone's face before.

"What?" she asked, her face twisting in confusion. "Yer' actin' like no ones ever apologized to you before."

He coughed and turned his gaze out to the darkness. "Not fer' hittin' me, no."

She blinked a few times, trying to understand the obviously deep meaning glittered over an answer just a bit too vague for her grasp. "Thank you," she said suddenly.

He glanced at her, fidgeting uncomfortably. "Fer' what?" he asked gruffly.

"For honoring my brother's death," she replied, her eyes sparkling with gratitude. "For keepin' your word. It means a lot." She smiled suddenly. "Enough for us to let you stay here, in fact."

He smirked, feeling instantly at ease with her playful change in attitude.

They shared a look then, one that was filled with mutual respect, and understanding. She felt a tightness suddenly in her chest as his eyes smiled into hers, and hers shined back with immense gratitude. She wasn't sure what it was, and neither was he, but they both knew, in that moment, that this was going to be the start of something.

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><p><em>During this last part, I kind of imagined Shawn looking down on them and laughing, knowing that this was going to turn out exactly how he had wanted it to. <em>


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

_The sky was streaked with the cries of bombs as they fell to the ground, landing with a deafening impact. Death surrounded them in a fog of uncertainty, and it seemed like there wasn't any way out. Enemy soldiers, explosives, and gunshots coming from all directions. Daryl was down to the crossbow he had found once he had run out of ammunition, and Rick was on his last round in the family handgun that the late Grimes Senior had given him. _

_This was the end, Daryl was sure of it. It seemed written in stone as a man who called himself the Governor, who had a personal vendetta against Rick for whatever reason, climbed upon a tank, calling out words of victory. He felt defeated for a moment, but looking to Rick, who had anger in his eyes, he saw the stubborn truth there. They hadn't won yet._

_They were hiding, just barely able to see the commotion, and were moving slowly into better positions. RIck and Daryl were going to take a shot at him at the same time, hoping to God one of them could take him down once and for all, and send his men into a panic. _

_Just as both Rick and Daryl had reached their spots, a young man stood up, having a clear shot at the eyepatched General. Daryl recognized the young man's profile, and his eyes snapped open wide. _

_It was Greene. _

_His finger pressed down quick on the trigger, the force of the blow pushing him off of the tank, and onto the blood stained ground below. _

_There was a moment of hiatus on the ground, as the soldiers watched their general fall, and then there was a riotous uproar of cheers from the American soldiers. They felt more confident, and had better luck hitting their targets, several of them even taking out the tanks. Daryl moved out of the shadows of his hiding place to join the fight, firing and rarely missing. _

_Soon he and Rick were fighting side by side again, almost back to back, making their way over to private Greene, who was firing incredibly accurate shots left and right. Daryl was watching him carefully as well as the enemies around him, hoping to God that they would get out of this alive. If they did, that boy deserved a damn medal._

_Then he heard the wail of a bomb dropping, and took a moment to see where it was coming from, only to watch it hit maybe ten feet from Greene, Rick's scream of denial drown out by the explosion. All Daryl could hear was the intense ringing in his ears, and his own heartbeat as he watched a good man face death for the hundredth time, his body vibrating with the force of the bomb destruction, and the anger and sadness that consumed him._

_He knew that it was a wasted effort, that even if Greene was alive, he couldn't hear him, but the shout poured out anyway. He could barely hear his own voice as he shouted, "_Greene!" _into the dirt, ash, and fire._

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><p>Daryl woke up to his heart pounding in his chest, causing his limbs to shake with the force of it. He sat up quickly, his chest heaving, and he pushed a hand through his messy hair, closing his eyes tightly. He could feel the sweat all over his body, and he sighed, still trying to calm himself down, reminding his shaking body that he was home now. The war was over.<p>

When his body couldn't pull itself from the memories, he threw the covers off and reached for his jacket, tugging the picture of Beth from the inside pocket, quickly taking in the gentle lines of her young face.

It was habit, and had been since Shawn Greene's passing. Maybe it was because it seemed to have given the young man such hope and strength in such a hellish place, but it soothed Daryl too, more than he cared to admit.

He smiled a bit remembering when he had first seen Shawn staring at the pictures the Greene girls had gifted their brother. He had asked him which one was his girl, and Shawn had smirked a bit, shaking his head and saying softly, "Don't have one. These are my sisters." Daryl had felt embarrassed to say the least, but Shawn didn't seem to mind, and even offered the seat next to him. Daryl had sat down hesitantly, not used to having a conversation with anyone besides Rick.

"This one, Mags," Shawn had said, pointing to the picture of the girl with short brown hair, "She's got a husband. He's serving too, but I think he has a good chance of goin' home. He loves Mags too much to leave 'er all alone."

Daryl looked from the picture to Shawn's face, seeing the loss he felt at being away from his family. "What 'bout her?" he'd asked, pointing to the picture of Beth.

Shawn's face had fallen. "I worry 'bout her," he said simply.

"Why?" Daryl asked carefully.

He perked up a little bit, his eyes shimmering with the remembrance of some distant memory. "'Cause she never did have good taste in men," he said jokingly. "If I don't go back, she'll probably end up with some guy who tricks her into thinkin' he loves her, then he'll turn around and break her heart." Worry suddenly overtook his amused expression as he said, "Or worse."

Daryl had been taking in the girl's heart shaped face as Greene was talking, but he didn't see the weakness Shawn had described in that young girl's eyes. Innocence, yes. But such naivety as to, at the very least, continue to be with someone who hurt you, physically or emotionally, he did not see that in her eyes. He knew all too well what that kind of weakness looked like. "Don't got much faith in 'er," he commented.

Shawn laughed a little bit. "I'm her big brother, if I didn't question her judgment, I wouldn't be doin' my job right."

Even Daryl had smiled at that.

Once Daryl had calmed down completely, the nice memory helping some, his eyes took one last sweep over the image before putting it back into his pocket. He stood up, looking around the room he had occupied at the Greene house. It was sweet and simple, just a guest room, but he liked it.

There was a gentle knock at the door, and Daryl slid a shirt on as he called, "Come in."

Beth opened the door slowly, peeking in with her big blue eyes. She caught him just as he was pulling his suspenders over his shoulders. "Breakfast is ready," she said, smiling a little.

"Be out in a minute," he replied gruffly, keeping his eyes on his fingers as he fixed one strap that was twisted until she closed the door completely.

She smiled sweetly as she stepped away from the door, singing softly and twirling as she walked back into the kitchen, "_Starry-eyed again~ Takin' a chance on~ love~." _

Daryl was moving into the bedroom just below hers, and she felt somewhat happy about it. Not only was she interested in Daryl as a person, keenly aware of the emotions that lay underneath his tough exterior, but she also wanted to know everything about what her brother was like during his time overseas. She was curious mostly about little things, like If he had gotten she and Maggie's letters, and if he had shared them. If he kept the little trinkets Beth had been sending, hoping they hadn't been too much of an inconvenience for him. The only person who could tell her that, as far as she knew, was Daryl, assuming he wanted to talk about it.

Maggie had told her that Glenn never wanted to talk about the time he served, only saying to her that he had done things he never thought he could've done. Never thought he would've been able to do, even if the need for it had called.

Beth wondered briefly, as she put together their plates of food with her father, if Shawn had to do the kinds of things that even husbands didn't want to describe to their wives. If he and maybe even Daryl had needed to do them, just to survive, and come home.

She put extra bacon on Daryl's plate, hoping he would feel maybe a bit better, if he was feeling bad at all. Not that she thought some extra bacon could solve all his problems, but maybe it would remind him that whatever he had done, he didn't have to do them anymore. She watched her father eye her suspiciously, so she put some more on his plate too, which he responded to by giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Smells good," Daryl said from behind them, and Beth looked over her shoulder, smiling at him as he leaned against the doorway.

She had been doing that a lot this morning. Smiling.

"Made it myself, hope you like the way it tastes as much as you like the way it smells," she joked, turning to show him his plate, only to whisk it away into the diningroom.

Hershel smiled at Daryl, holding his own plate of food in one hand. "Bethy took over the cookin' when my Anette died," he said, the smile he had turning up the corners of his mouth and his eyes holding both happiness and sadness in it's gleam. "She's as good as her mother was."

Daryl nodded, the smell proof enough for him.

"Oh, that ain't true Daddy," Beth said, her head poking back into the kitchen. "I still can't get her apple pie recipe right."

"She always said the same thing. It was your grandmother's recipe, you know," Hershel said as he began to walk towards the diningroom, Daryl following close behind. "Always said something felt off, that it didn't taste quite as good as the way her mother made it."

"Well, like mother like daughter," Beth said, seating herself at the table.

When the three of them were all seated, Hershel held out his hand as Daryl went to dig in. The soldier stopped, looking down at Hershel's hand and realizing his mistake. Embarrassed, he mumbled an apology and took the old man's hand, grabbing Beth's which was stretched to him across the table.

He closed his eyes shortly after Hershel and Beth did, feeling uncomfortable as the two members of the Greene family said grace.

"Bless us 'O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive through Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord, Amen," Hershel said.

"Amen," Beth said, smiling a bit when she heard the word tumble uncomfortably from Daryl's lips. She squeezed his hand gently, opening her eyes and meeting his gaze across the table.

He grunted and let go of her hand, holding her gaze for another moment before he started eating.

Suddenly, the phone rang.

All three of them stared at it in the kitchen for a minute, each one wondering who would call during this time in the morning, but then Beth stood up, walking over to the phone and answering it.

"Hello?" she asked. "Oh, hello, Rick."

Hershel and Daryl exchanged a questioning glance.

"Yeah, he's here." Beth paused, listening to Sheriff Grimes. "'Lright."

Beth turned, looking directly at Daryl, and held out the earpiece, watching as he got up from his chair and took it carefully, walking closer to hold the candlestick phone in his hand.

"Yeah," Daryl said, feeling the curious eyes of Beth and Hershel Greene on his back.

"Daryl? I need you to come downtown," Rick said, his voice strained. Panicked.

He looked back at Beth. "Why?"

"We've got a serious problem, and I didn't know who else to call," Rick said. "I don't think I can trust anyone else with this."

Daryl's stomach twisted. "Be down in a bit," he said, and Rick told him the address of where he was.

"Gotta go help Rick with somethin'," Daryl said, searching for his coat. Beth got up from her place at the table, leaving the room quickly and coming back with his coat hanging over one arm.

He took it with a grateful grunt.

"Will you come back soon?" Beth asked, looking a little worried. Daryl guessed she had picked up on Rick's worried tone.

"'S long as I'm welcome," he replied, moving his gaze to Hershel, who smiled softly at him.

"The room is yours, so long as you want it," Hershel replied.

With that, Daryl nodded, saying, "I'll pack my things ta'day," before heading out the door. He climbed into his car, reminding himself to thank Glenn and Maggie again later for giving him a ride back to his automobile.

He drove carefully, worried by how startled Rick sounded, and wondering what on earth, with all the police around, he would need him for.

When he got to the location, a cluster of abandoned buildings at the center point of at least a few of the statewide train tracks, Rick came out to meet him, his face rigid, and his walk filled with purpose.

"Wha'sa matter?" Daryl asked as he got out of his car.

"Follow me," Rick replied, turning around when Daryl nodded and closed his car door swiftly to follow him into the largest building.

Daryl watched Rick open the door, noticing the familiar look in Rick's eyes. The look of a man at war. He felt his body react on instinct, his sense suddenly reverting back to how he had felt on the front lines.

When Rick opened the door, he took him inside the building, over to a far room, but before they went in, Rick stopped him with a hand to the chest.

"Before you go in," he said. "I wanna warn you… Brother, it's bad." Rick shook his head. "_Real_ bad."

Daryl nodded. "Dun' worry 'bout me, Rick. Jus' show me."

Rick slowly nodded, putting his arm down and walking over to the door. It was slightly ajar, and Daryl watched in terrified anticipation as Rick pushed it open with one hand, gesturing for Daryl to come inside.

Daryl stepped through the threshold, and he recoiled instantly, his body threatening to up-chuck the wonderful breakfast Beth had made him. He covered his mouth with the crook of his elbow and looked from Rick to the horrifying scene before him, the only words he could think to say coming out as a startled, "What the fuck!"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Hope you guys like where I'm going with this story and thanks so much for all the favorites and wonderful reviews! You guys are AWESOME! :D The next chapter should be out in the next few days, hope the cliff hanger leaves you wondering about what's going on besides the wonderful Bethyl-ness I have in store! You'll just have to wait and see ;) <em>****_Thanks again, you guys are fabulous :)_**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Phew! Finally got this done! Sorry for the late update, Christmas stuff has been hectic, but here it is! **_

_**Before you get to reading I just wanted to thank all of you that had reviewed and favorited this because it's really what made me keep going with it. I've been having so many other fic ideas, mostly Bethyl but some ROTBTD stuff too, which I have thought continously about starting and puting this one on hiatus, but you guys really seemed to like this story so, with all the continous support, I decided to keep it going :)**_

_**Thanks so much to all of you! I'll try to get the next chapter out soon, hopefully by Christmas eve, but it may have to be after Christmas. Hope you like the chapter!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Walking Dead characters, or the songs I used previously, I just put them into this story because I wanted to.**_

* * *

><p>Chapter Five:<p>

Daryl never would've expected what he saw in that that room. Something strange, yeah. He had got that vibe off of Rick. But _this_?

His eyes raked in the sight before him, not afraid of dead bodies any more than RIck was, considering all the death they had seen, but he found this particular corpse absolutely terrifying. Maybe he was the obvious care that the person had taken placing the corpse there, knowing someone would find it in the morning, or maybe it was the state the body was in. Either way, the whole scene gave Daryl goosebumps, and it took _a lot _to scare a Dixon.

What was carefully placed in front of him was the dead body of what used to be a pretty brunette girl. He might had have felt better about seeing her corpse if she was intact, but that was not the case. Her arms had been removed in a way that looked professional, as were her legs, and she had no clothing on besides some incredibly revealing lingerie. Her face was perfectly made up, red lipstick and all, and it looked oddly out of place compared to the rest of her.

"Whoever did this, 'e left a note," Rick said, stepping to stand beside him. "It said, '_I invited her to dinner, the meal was quite filling.'_" Rick shook his head.

Daryl glanced sideways as Rick. "Did 'e…" He couldn't find it in him to form the question, but Rick seemed to understand.

"Sure hope not, but it seems like it." Out of the corner of his eye, Daryl saw Rick visibly shiver, and try to shake off the feeling as quickly as it had come. "And that ain't all," he said, walking over the the body, pulling gloves on as he did. Once he was close enough, he kneeled down, pulling the strap of her bra off and revealing a small, but dark, red tattoo just above her breast.

"That's a fuckin' swastika," Daryl said, his tone equal parts surprise and anger. "So that's why you wan'ed me here."

"Couldn't trust anyone else with this, and I got you cleared by my chief as a… Consultant, since he doesn't know what to do about it," Rick said. "I tried to call someone, anyone, who might be able to help, but no one took me seriously. It's just a murder on official file, even though the swastika is noted. I don't think they understand what it means."

Both of them knew too well what kinds of things came with that symbol. "The pictures have been taken, and I'm waiting fer' someone to come back to take the body away, but I had to show you."

"Didn't know we had any Hitler fans in town," Daryl said, the morbid joke settling between them.

"I don't know, something just doesn't seem right," RIck replied, his eyes squinted in suspicion.

"Wha's right about any a this?" Daryl asked, shaking his head. ""S fuckin' sick. I thought we'd left all this bullshit back on the front lines."

"The happiness of home can blind you to what's out there," Rick responded. "We can't forget what people do. What they've always done."

"Don't think any normal person has ever done somthin' like that," Daryl replied, knowing that the sight of that dismembered girl would just add to his nightmares.

They heard tires pull into the gravel and they exited the room, Daryl glancing back once to let the horror of it all really settle.

Daryl had seen first hand the brutality of the Germans, and he felt it in his gut that if this wasn't a Natzi's work, whoever did it had some serious problems. The only thing that had him agreeing with Rick in the suspicion that the killer was hoping the turn the blame from himself to the Nazi party was that he hadn't known the Germans, Natzi's or not, to be cannibalistic like the message had suggested. Not unless there was no other choice. But Daryl figured if there was no food, no water, nothing to hunt, and the person was already dead, he might, if he was starving to death… Daryl suddenly tossed that thought out of his mind, feeling even more sick than he had before.

He would rather starve than make a meal out of another human being.

"So, how'm I gonna be any help?" Daryl asked, trying not to think about the whole situation too much.

"You," Rick said, turning around and putting a strong hand on the archer's shoulder. "Are gonna help me catch the son've a bitch."

* * *

><p>Beth was worried to say the least. She had heard the urgency in Rick's voice, and different scenarios kept racing through her mind, some less flattering to Daryl than she would've liked to have thought of.<p>

She had started cleaning to keep her mind off of it, and when there was nothing left to clean, she wrote in her journal. By the time she had finished her entry, not even half the day had gone by.

FInally, she couldn't take it any more. She needed to do _something _besides sit bored in her house.

"Daddy!" she called.

"Yes Bethy?" Hershel called back.

Beth found him out front, reading in his rocking chair. "I'm gonna take a walk into town. We need some bread." It wasn't a lie persay, but it wasn't the true reason she wanted to go out. She didn't know why but she felt guilty for wanting to leave so bad, considering how content she had been to stay inside only days before.

Hershel looked at her curiously, wondering what had given her the urge to just up and walk into town. The walk wasn't far, so he wasn't too worried, but that didn't stop him giving her a concerned look, which she met with a sweet smile. He was perplexed by her obvious need to go, but he didn't argue. A little sunshine and fresh air would do her some good. "Alright. You know where the money is?""

"Yeah," Beth said, running inside to fetch a few dollars from Hershel's sock drawer and her coat from the hallway closet before heading outside, hugging her father as she left. "Be back soon," she said.

"I'll be here," Hershel replied.

She didn't mind walking places, especially during the springtime, when the air becomes a pleasant mix of both warm and cool, and the sunlight dances through the newly grown leaves.

It had been Shawn's favorite time of the year too, and at first, Beth had dreaded spring's return. Something felt different in the air now, for whatever reason. She felt lighter, happier. Not that the sadness of losing her brother and mother had gone away. She still felt it there, settled in the pit of her stomach. Unmoving. But her chest, which had felt tightened with pain since the letters had stopped coming, seemed to have loosened its grip. The white mark across her right wrist was a promise that the pain would never completely go away, but Beth was beginning to have hope that she could somehow accept that pain would always come with caring for people. If she could accept that, then maybe she would be willing to let people in again. She was already trying to with Mr. Dixon.

Beth did like Daryl in a way, as distrusting of others as he seemed to be.

She liked that he was honest, and that he honored his commitments. He had no idea what it meant to Beth, she could tell that much, and she made a mental note to try and show him just how much it did. She would show him her gratitude as often as she could in little kindnesses.

Beth smiled a bit to herself, kicking a small rock across the dirt road. Her mother would've been happy with Beth's thoughts.

When Beth made it to the corner store, she saw Zach, an old classmate of hers, leaning against the brick wall of the corner store. She bristled when his eyes locked onto her, but she kept on walking, holding her chin high and trying not to think about all the trouble he had caused her before graduation.

It had been fine at first, he had told her he fancied her, asked her out on a few dates, and then the boy started to get… Grabby. Too grabby for Beth's tastes. She had brushed him off, told him it was over under the guidance of her brother, who had told her in a brief letter to drop him like a rock into the bottom of the sea.

Zach had been bitter, had gone after her. Luckily Maggie had been there to save the day, but secretly, Beth had been ashamed that she had needed her sister to protect her, while her brother was overseas, fighting for his life every minute of every day. It had made her feel so useless, so pathetic. When her brother had died, helpless had been added on to that package, and she had labeled herself a burden, because she felt like one.

This, Beth decided, did not mean that she had to put up with boys who didn't understand the meaning of 'No'. Maybe she was a burden on everyone else, but that didn't mean she had to be a burden to herself.

So as she walked by, she acted like he wasn't there, and held her head up, keeping her eyes forward and her pace steady and strong.

She heard him scoff behind her once all he could see was the back of her, and she smiled a bit, leveling her head and feeling a strength she hadn't known she'd had fill her. She considered briefly that maybe she didn't need Maggie to protect her anymore. Maybe she could learn how to protect herself. Surely Daryl could teach her, and she couldn't imagine her father refusing.

All those thoughts, however, were knocked right out of her when she turned the corner, and slammed hard into someone's back.

She pushed away from him in shock, accidentally pushing him forwards as she fell to the ground, and the man stumbled a bit, his head whipping around and his eyes snapping to her.

Her eyes widened and she stared, completely forgetting to apologize as she was frozen with fear by this man's murderous gaze. All that strength she had felt before shriveled and she felt small under his enormous anger, especially as his mouth twisted into a sly grin.

"Well, well, well…" the man said, taking a few step towards her and resting his hands on his knees. "Who do we have here?"

Beth swallowed hard, not sure if she was meant to actually answer the question.

The man frowned at her silence. "I asked you a question girl!" he snapped.

"Beth," Beth squeaked, wishing desperately for a rock to crawl behind. "Beth Greene."

"Greene, huh?" the man asked, eyeing her suspiciously. "You wouldn't happen ta' be Maggie's baby sista' now would you?"

This time, Beth wasn't sure she wanted to answer that question. Did this man know her sister? Sure seemed like it. If that was the case, then maybe he wasn't all bad. "Yeah," she said quietly.

"Jesus," the man said, holding out a hand to help her up. "Yer' quiet as a mouse, Girl."

Beth hesitantly took his offering, still not sure how trustworthy this man was. "I guess," she replied.

Once Beth was on her feet, the man let go of her hand, looking her up and down. "Yer' a tiny thang' aren't 'cha?" he said with a smirk.

She glared at him, suddenly feeling her temper spark. "Don't underestimate someone by their size, Mister," she warned.

He chuckled. "Normally a' don't, but Darlin', you look like you wouldn't have the heart to kill a fly."

Beth knew her face was red because of the burning she felt in her cheeks. ""Scuse me, but I need to get some groceries."

The man chuckled again and stepped out of the way. "Fine then, feisty pants."

She walked by, nearly tripping on her own two feet she was so mad, but as she walked into the store, she heard the man call,

"Oh, by the way Darlin' would you mind saying hi to ma' brotha' for me?"

She turned around slowly, thinking about who on earth he could be talking about. No way in hell was he her uncle. Suddenly it dawned on her.

"Yer' Daryl's brother?" she asked, suddenly curious.

He smiled and bowed dramatically. "The one and only. Merle's the name, Darlin'," he said, straightening up and smiling at her. "Rumor's goin' 'round that ma' brotha' went lookin' for ya'... That true?"

Beth eyed him suspiciously. "'Nd if it is?" she asked, somewhat surprised that he seemed not to know about what was going on.

"Just thought I'd warn ya' Girly," Merle started, his face, while the smile was still there, loosing a bit of it's original humor. "Don't let 'em get too close ta ya' Darlin'."

Beth's face twisted in confusion. "What? Why?" she asked, taking a cautious step towards him.

"'Cause Girl, ya' seem like a nice little thing, but us Dixon's... We got a way of ruinin' everythin' we touch." Beth thought she saw a flash of sadness pass through Merle's eyes, but the moment was too brief to be sure it had even existed. "Ma' brotha'... He tries to do some good, but he can't run from it, no siree. It's the Dixon curse Darlin'. You let him in, it'll destroy ya' both."

Beth felt the seriousness in his gaze as he said, "Garunteed."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Sorry for the super late update guys! I was trying to sort everything out with where I wanted this fic to go, and I pretty much have it planned out now. I am still writing it chapter by chapter, I haven't even remotely started the seventh yet, but that WILL be out sooner than this one was, I promise. Anyway, I hope this meets your expectations! Enjoy :3**_

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><p>Chapter Six:<p>

Before Daryl made his way towards the Greene farm, he decided to load up some of his things into the back seat of his car, not that he had much to his name to begin with. But the extra time it took to make the trip was really what the soldier was looking for. It would give him time to think everything over.

Daryl had half a mind to tell Rick no. He couldn't just go chasing after serial killers, he had left the war behind him in Germany. But there was that other part of him, that knew deep down, war was all Daryl had ever known.

Fighting to survive, living on the bare minimum... That had been his life long before the war.

But then there was this whole mess with the youngest Greene girl.

If he got involved in something so dangerous, and he didn't make it out, where would that leave his promise? Buried right beside him. He couldn't do this girl any good from six feet under, If he could do her any good living, that is. And he wasn't so sure he could.

What was he? Some old redneck who sure as hell didn't deserve the war hero title he had been given, let alone some beautiful song bird to look after. He figured he'd just destroy her in the end, and everything sweet that she was.

He had been given the opportunity to say 'No', knowing Rick would accept that he didn't want to help.

Those thoughts swirled in his head as he drove back to the Greene farm, pulling up the long driveway with hesitation.

Part of him wanted to peel back out of the driveway, speed towards the main road, and just drive until the farmhouse and the family inside were all but a distant memory. But then he saw her sitting in the tall grass out front, probably on a small blanket, a pretty little sunhat on her head and her eyes turned up towards the fluorescent blue of the Georgia sky. He could see little wisps of her light hair curling with the wind, and the look in Shawn's eyes stapled itself to the front of his thoughts. He cursed as he pulled up to the house, mumbling insults to himself as he opened the door and slammed it shut behind him.

Beth looked over, and Daryl's breath caught as her eyes locked onto his frame. Her gaze seeming distant, but still as beautifully disarming as they had been before.

She smiled and gave him a little wave, which he replied to with a curt nod as he walked up the steps, mumbling a gruff 'Hello' to Hershel, who had watched the exchange between his daughter and the soldier. The older Greene seemed to find something about their interaction amusing, but said nothing of his own thoughts, only watching Daryl as he disappeared into the house, moving his gaze to Beth as she did the same, sighing loudly once he was out of sight.

Hershel Greene was no fool, he knew there was something growing between the two he had under his roof. He also knew when to stay out of something that wasn't his business. He knew better than to try and control his two daughters, especially when it came to the men they were interested in.

Hershel hadn't understood Maggie's love for Glenn Rhee at first. After all, he was just some chinaman in Hershel's eyes, but nonetheless, there wasn't anything he could've done to stop the marriage between them. When Mr. Rhee came back decorated, with stories of honor and many scars, both physical and emotional, Hershel finally saw what Maggie did. Glenn Rhee was the kind of man that could take care of his eldest daughter, and the Korean had earned Hershel's respect, and his favor. He had even given Glenn his favorite pocket watch, along with a few of the kindest words he could think to say to the man that would be taking his baby girl away.

Beth's budding interest in Daryl seemed more clear to Hershel.

Daryl was obviously an honorable man, and the soldier could give the youngest Greene girl the answers about her brother that she so desperately craved. Daryl had so bluntly told Hershel that he was going to take care of Beth, and while Hershel was not just going to let some man he hardly knew run off with his daughter, he was prepared to let Daryl help around, to fulfill the purpose Shawn had sent Daryl to the farm to carry out, and for the sake of Beth's emotional state.

It had been hard on the whole Greene family when they had lost Shawn, and Anette so shortly after, but Beth seemed to take both deaths the hardest, which had made it even more difficult for Hershel to cope. If having Daryl around would give Beth some peace of mind, which already seemed to be occurring, then Hershel would gladly welcome the soldier into his home. Anything to see his Bethy's sweet smile again.

Even as the sun went down, Beth sat on her favorite quilt watching the sky, and Hershel sent Daryl out to bring her inside once he decided to go in. Daryl had nodded curtly before maneuvering around Hershel and striding out the door.

_The man certainly knows how to follow something through_, Hershel thought as he sat down in his chair in the living room.

When Daryl got outside, it was clear that he would have to walk down to where the blonde was sitting, since she was too absorbed in her own little world to hear him when he called for her.

He made his way through the tall grass, stopping when he was close enough to hear Beth's soft voice flittering through the warm Georgia breeze. He couldn't make out the words of the song, since her voice wasn't raised any louder than a whisper, but just the familiar ups and downs settled his jarred nerves in a startling way.

She turned a bit to see him standing there, and slowed her song to a stop, scooting over a bit to the right and patting the seat next to her as an offering. Daryl mechanically complied, landing roughly on her blanket beside her. He made sure to keep his gaze on the treeline, knowing better than to look this songstress in the eyes, but he could feel her gaze smiling at him.

* * *

><p>Beth, more than anything in that moment, wanted to understand Daryl's brothers' words. She wanted to ask Daryl, and get some sort of a straight answer out of the man, but part of her knew better. She could see it now, in the way Daryl walked, in the way Daryl talked, and most of all, in his reactions to the simplest of kindnesses. This Dixon curse had somehow affected him, and Beth was curious as to how, exactly, it had. But again, she knew better. The archer before her was the perfect example of a man living in fear, it was written in every movement he made. She guessed that even before the war, he had been the kind to sleep with one eye open. Honestly, she thought he lived with it quite well, compared to how she had seen it tear up other men before.<p>

Beth could understand this fear to some level, remembering how it had felt to wait for Shawns letters, knowing that any one of them could be his last. Then it had been a fear of Zach, even after she had stepped out of his reach. She had been mindful of who she walked past, and even who she had hung out with, avoiding the boy at every turn.

And then, it had become a fear of herself, and the sadness that threatened to strangle her during the lonely nights on the farm.

Yes, she figured she knew something about fear, even if it wasn't to the extent she guessed Mr. Dixon had experienced.

"You just gon' sit there?" Daryl asked, clearing his throat when his voice came out thick with his nervousness about having her eyes, and maybe even her thoughts, so undividedly on him.

"Sorry…" Beth mumbled, pulling at the edge of her white sundress.

"'Salright…" Daryl replied.

There was a long moment of silence, and suddenly, Daryl said, "'M sorry 'bout yer' Mama. Didn't know you'd lost 'er too. Hershel said somthin' this mornin' and ai-"

Without warning, Beth wrapped her arms as well as she could around his slouched, sitting frame. The embrace felt a bit awkward for both of them, since it actually took her a bit of squeezing to link her hands together around his arms. Still, he felt the need to reciprocate in some way, so he grasped gently onto her arm with one hand.

When she pulled away, looking at him with the last light of the evening brightening her eyes, he couldn't help but watch the girl's gaze. He didn't dare hold her eyes though. Those pools of blue could easily pull him under, and he wasn't one to go down without a fight. He would battle with his attraction to the young girl, remind himself of all the good things she embodied and all the bad things he carried. He would take care of Beth Greene, but he would not fall under her spell, because the truth of the matter was, if he went down, everyone he cared for would go down with him, and no one deserved that but a Dixon.

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><p>The house was quiet when the car pulled up, the tires scrambling almost silently in the driveway, what little noise it did make not enough to wake anyone in the house.<p>

Beth was trapped in the day the people from the army had come to deliver the news, along with a folded American flag, and then at her mother's funeral. Daryl was reliving one comrades death after another, each in turn and each feeling as horrible and heartbreaking as they had on the front lines. And Hershel was twisting in a bittersweet memory of his Anette, and his Shawn. They were so trapped within their own minds that not one heard the stranger in the car climb out of it, walk up to the house, and venture the few stairs to the porch. Nor did anyone hear the outsider pick the lock, the door granting access with a subtle _click. _

Once the stranger was inside, they leisurely to their time, examining the happy family pictures placed carefully on the walls or standing on otherwise unoccupied counter and table tops. They sat in Hershel's chair, watching the room as the outsider supposed the old man did. Then they moved into the kitchen, tracing a finger over the counters, and making their way into the dining room, where they stopped at the head of the table, imagining the Greene family sitting each in their respectable place, tied with ropes like the monsters they were. Oh, except for little Shawn Greene of course.

A sly grin crept over the intruders face at the thought.

No, he wouldn't be here for this, but the stranger had no doubt, since he did believe in an afterlife, that Shawn would be watching from his fiery pot way down below, as his family also paid for what he had done. Just as he had. And rightfully so.

From there the intruder crept up the stairs, sliding into the sweet Beth Greene's room, watching as she slept, taking great comfort in the sadness that was etched into her sleeping features.

The outsider reached for her, trailing their fingertips up her forearm, a flurry of satisfaction coming with her reaction. This person had decided long ago that Beth would be the one they would have the most fun with, knowing that she was the sister Shawn had favored. They would use her as they pleased, torturing her very soul and rendering her helpless until she begged for death. The thoughts made the outsider's heart beat fast with anticipation. They had waited far too long to carry out the revenge they felt would satisfy the blood lust that consumed them, and knowing that they were so close filled them with an immense feeling of passionate contentment, but this didn't last long.

Beth, quite out of the blue, opened her eyes.

Whether it was from the nightmare, or the sense that someone was in her room, the person didn't know, but they had no time to counter as her eyes locked onto theirs in the darkness, and she screamed, recognizing instantly that whoever was in her room was not anyone she knew.

She screamed and scrambled from her bed, kicking at the intruder with all her might. Crying out for help and muddling the stranger's thoughts. An escape plan had been made, but they just couldn't remember it with all her screaming!

The outsider was caught dumbstruck for a moment, but immediately bolted from the scene, knowing that for the moment, their plans would have to wait.

But something else unexpected was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs, and the intruder suddenly felt _very _outnumbered.

Any member of the Greene family, including Maggie's husband, they were confident they could handle, but going up against Daryl Dixon was a whole other story. Last time that had happened, Dixon wasn't the one with an arrow to the throat, that's for sure. He had made a fool out of them, but revenge for that would have to wait.

Now they need more time, more resources, more allies. And to leave the Greene house in one piece.

Using the stairs to their advantage, they kicked Daryl down with a foot to the chest, breaking down the back door and nearly taking a bullet from a now armed Hershel as they fled the Greene house, a wreck of anger and their head jumbled with miscalculations.

They had tried to plan for every possible event that could happen during the take over of the Greene farm. The one thing they hadn't put into the mix, was the appearance of the infamous redneck archer, Daryl Dixon.

* * *

><p>Beth couldn't breathe, even as Daryl, someone she knew wouldn't hurt her, rushed up the stairs, calling her name in a tone that vibrated with his panic, she just couldn't settle down. He appeared in her doorway, rushing to her side as she sobbed, trying, and failing, to catch her breath.<p>

She hadn't even known she was crying.

"You alright? Nod ta' me if yer' alright," Daryl said, rubbing her back.

His warmth startlingly soothed her, almost instantly in fact, and she closed her eyes, hoping that concentrating on his hand making circles on her back would calm her down. At least enough so she could talk. When she found that after a little bit, she still couldn't form words, she just nodded quickly, bracing herself on one of his shoulders.

The Beth's surprise, it was like fear had flipped a switch in Mr. Dixon, sending his mouth into overdrive with his fear. She could barely get a word out of the man most of the time, and now she just wanted him to shut his trap so she could stop panicking.

"Ai tried to go after 'im. Yer' Daddy too, but 'e was too fast… Got in his car 'n drove off. Th' fucker… He touch you? Hurt ya'?" Daryl checked her quickly for bruises, scrapes.

"'M fine Daryl," Beth said weakly, happy to be able to speak once again. She took deep, slow breaths, pushing her hair out of her face while keeping her eyes closed. "'E didn't touch me. At least, I don't think he did… I just woke up and he was right there. Jus'... Lookin' at me." Beth's face twisted in confusion and her stomach churned with the unsettling remembrance of the man's eyes. How he had looked at her like she was some piece of meat he couldn't wait to butcher.

Hershel flooded into the room, kneeling in front of his baby girl, checking her for injuries just as Daryl had done only a moment before.

Even as her father fussed over her, there was only one thing on Beth's mind. "He knew our house Daddy," she said, her eyes focused on her bedroom door. "Knew how to get in. All the doors are locked."

Neither man said a thing, not sure what they possibly could say to ease her mind.

"We need to leave," Beth said sternly, looking into her fathers eyes.

Hershel shook his head, his eyes worrying into his daughters. "I can't do that Bethy… You know that."

"Daddy-"

"Beth," Hershel's tone struck down hard, the sharpness of it slicing through the air. "I can't." More silence. "But you can."

Beth shook her head. "I'm not jus' gonna leave you here as… Creeper bait! Who _knows _what he came here to do! What he would've done I hadn't woken up…"

"That's why you need to go… _Now_," Hershel stated. "Whoever he was stopped in your room for a reason. I'll be damned if he'll ever come near my daughter again. I'll bring Rick here, we'll wait for him. Take him to jail or take him out, whichever comes first."

"Ai got a place," Daryl said. "Cabin, out in the woods. It's Dixon property, nobody comes out there. Aren't many who know 'bout it. Jus' me and my brother far as ai know. You would be safe there."

"But- Daddy!" Beth tried to convey her skepticism of leaving him with her shaky gaze, but the older man just shook his head.

"I'll go get Rick on the phone, and you two pack your things," Hershel said, standing up. "You leave as soon as the Sheriff knows what's going on."

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><p><strong><em>Hope you guys enjoyed! (Sorry for the lack of Bethyl fluffiness, I'm getting to that...) Please Follow, Favorite and Review if you haven't already; I really do love hearing your guys' thoughts on the chapters, it spurrs me to keep going!<em>**

**_DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Walking Dead characters, I just thought they would look awesome in the forties. _**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Okay, first of all I am SO sorry for the late update! Shit happened, college classes started, I have WAY too much homework right now, but HERE IT IS! There will be more soon, I'm just not even going to give myself a time limit, it will be on here when it done. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, you're fabulous! Enjoy the update!_**

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><p>Chapter Seven:<p>

Beth liked the cabin, if she was being completely honest. Even if she couldn't see that much of it because it was still dark out, what parts of the structure she coudl make out were pleasing to her eyes.

With how scary the whole situation had become, the little building tucked so gently in the back of the woods, with moss growing on the roof and an overgrown garden nestled against the front porch, it looked warm and comforting. Having a former military man by her side helped ease her worry too.

Everything had happened so quickly after that man broke in. Her father had called Sheriff Grimes, who had immediately come to the Greene farm at hearing the news, and talked with her father while she began packing what she considered necessities. This included a few trinkets she snuck into her bag, but only the ones she couldn't live without. A ring of her mothers, some earrings Maggie got her one year for her birthday, and her brothers dog tags.

Daryl had re-packed his things, and shoved both of their boxes and bags into the back. Beth was still in her pajamas when she hugged her father, kissing him on the cheek and watching as he and Daryl shook hands. Then Rick escorted them to the cabin after receiving directions from Daryl, who also gave them to Hershel, just in case.

They drove mostly in silence, not that it was uncomfortable or anything like that. She hummed a little melody, trying to get the intruders hungry eyes out of her head, and Daryl kept his keen eyes on the road, his mind whirling just as much as hers was.

Daryl felt responsible for what had happened. Not that he had any reason to feel that way, and somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that it wasn't his fault. Nonetheless he felt it root itself inside, bubbling just under his skin.

Guilt was all he seemed to feel lately… Guilt and whatever it was that made his heart rate quicken when Beth Greene gave him a soft look with those gentle blue eyes of hers. Also confusion about all he was feeling. It was hard to figure the whole mess with the man who broke in when he was having such trouble decoding his own thoughts and emotions.

Even more unidentified emotion flooded through him when Beth gazed in affectionate awe at the house he had spent most of his young adult life despising. The one his family had moved into after his mother burnt down their former home. The one he had left his brother behind in screaming when he decided to serve in the U.S. army. When he left to attempt to redeem himself. Or at least die trying.

After Rick had made sure they would be safe, he gave Beth a hug, promising her personal safety, and he and Daryl shook hands. When Daryl went to let go, Rick held strong onto his hand, his eyes sharp in Daryl's own gaze as he said, "This house, what it represents. It's not you, Daryl."

The words hit Daryl's heart even if he couldn't bring himself to believe them, and he nodded slowly. With a pat on the back, and a nod to Beth, Rick left, the uplifted dirt trying to follow his vehicle, and settling in an almost melancholy way when it realized it couldn't.

The feelings he felt when he saw that house again were a strange mix of sentimentality, and hate. He felt like somehow, he was back at the start. Back under his father's sickening gaze. He rolled his shoulders as he stepped out of the car, his back stinging in remembrance.

He hadn't thought twice about offering to bring Beth here when she was in danger. It was logical, in a sense. Only the Dixon family knew about the cabin, and it was located pretty deep in the woods. It was safe from intruders, yes, but not from the ghosts of his past.

Shockingly, he realized that he had forgotten about the skeletons in his closet. All that had mattered was that the petite blonde beside him was somewhere safe.

It was his job to take care of her. He had promised Shawn, and now he had promised Hershel. But in turn, he had risked the exposure of his secrets… Of his shame.

"It's so pretty out here!" Beth said, smiling at Daryl as she turned around in a slow circle, taking in the scene.

Daryl huffed, rushing inside after realizing just how long the cabin had been abandoned. It needed desperately to be cleaned. Not that he cared much, but he figured Beth would, what with how clean she and her Daddy kept their house. Part of Daryl wondered if part of that was the lack of inhabitants though. He imagined their house was probably more of a mess when Anette and Shawn were alive and when all of the Greene children lived there. But the cabin had a different kind of mess.

Just opening the door made Daryl go stiff, the memory of when he came home late one night from some party scratching at his insides.

He had stayed late because of this one girl, a pretty brunette with bright eyes and a warm smile. Not that he had actually talked to her, but he did glance her way every now and then. In the end, she had caught him staring, called him a creep, and he had trudged home, feeling like total shit. The icing on the cake was when he realized his father was home, and drunk. Not enough to just fall right to sleep though. He really suffered that night, as tall and strong as he had become, his father had fear on his side. He passed out from the beatings, and he wasn't sure if his father had even been hesitant to stop when he didn't have the strength to fight back anymore. He must've been fifteen then, because he didn't shed a single tear. Not even from the pain.

By the time he was thirteen, somewhere deep inside, he had accepted the cruel reality of what his life was, and the tears just dried up. Instead of crying every time his father raised a hand to him, he just died a little more inside. Somewhere during his teens years, he started believing he deserved it.

He was jerked out of the memory by a gentle hand on his shoulder. He whipped around to see Beth standing there with worry in her eyes, and hesitancy lining her features. "You alright?" she asked softly.

"Fine," Daryl grumbled back, forcing himself through the doorway.

"How long has it been since you lived here?" Beth asked, obviously aware of the thick layer of dirt and dust that covered everything.

"Eight years at least," Daryl answered, picking up some things, only to set them down again. Everything in the room seemed to trigger some horrible memory, and besides that, he didn't really know where to start cleaning.

"Alright, Dixon… Get out," Beth said.

Daryl turned around, giving her a confused and angry look. "'Scuse me?"

He was taken aback by her attitude, but realized quickly that she was being sarcastic, a cheeky smile set on her features. He was not in the mood for sarcasm.

"I'm gonna clean this place up," she said, rolling up the sleeves of her pajama shirt to her elbow and doing the same to her pants, stopping just above her knees.

Panic coursed through his veins. She was going to find out about everything. There was evidence of his fucked up childhood on every inch of the house.

It never was easy to wash the blood off of the floor. It was even harder to clean it knowing that it was his own.

Daryl glared hard at her. "Fuck no, Girl. _You _get out," he snapped, grabbing an armful of random things. "Only way this place would ever be clean is if we burned it down."

Beth huffed. "Well, ay'm not just gonna let you clean this mess up by yourself."

Daryl just kept grabbing things, throwing most of it out the front door.

She followed his lead, grabbing random things and throwing them out onto the front lawn, only earning an even sharper glare from the archer. "Don't you know when to step off, Girl? I said _get out!_" Daryl yelled, slicing his hand through the air angrily. "_Get out!_"

"Why won't you let me help?" Beth yelled back, startling him when she stepped towards him and not away. "I owe you so much already! I just want to help!"

"Ai' don't need no help from some pathetic, helpless bitch," Daryl growled, not backing down either.

Beth glared at him. He had stepped over a line that he would regret crossing. "Oh, fuck you, Daryl Dixon!" The curse felt foreign to Beth's tongue, but despite the strange feeling she got by using it, her angry tone never wavered. "No one made you keep to your word! You didn't _have _to come find me… You _chose _to!"

Her words angered him into icy silence. Fuck it all… She was right.

"If ay'm so pathetic and helpless, than teach me to defend myself," Beth said, surprising him. Her chest was heaving, and her bright blue eyes were steady on his.

He stared at her, holding some old bottle of whiskey in one hand. This girl could turn the tables on him in a matter of seconds. First she's cursing at him, much to Daryl's shock, and then she's asking him for help? Jesus.

"Teach me," she said again, this time there was something strong and hopeful in her eyes. Something light. "Please."

His anger dissipated as he held her gaze, and he let his body relax, looking at her with a newfound respect. He nodded a bit, shifting his stance slightly and turning his gaze to the floor, seeing another blood stain and remembering when he had asked Merle the same thing, in that very room. "Yeah," he said, moving his eyes back to her. "Sure, I'll teach ya'."

With that she left him to clean alone, watching from just beside the front doorway, so she could move quickly as he threw more things out on the lawn.

Eventually, Daryl had to take a break, the memories too painful and his body too heavy with so much guilt, worry, and raw agony. He took a seat next to Beth, ruffling out his hair. It had been short when the war started, Army standard short, but he stopped thinking about those kinds of trivial things on the front lines. They weren't important. Besides, he kind of liked it long.

"You don't like this place do ya'..." Beth said after a moment of silence.

Daryl glanced over at her, not angry persay, but not calm by any means calm under the weight of her question. He decided to stay quiet, preferring not to talk about it.

"You don't have ta' tell me why, but… It's kind of obvious," she said quietly, turning her gaze to meet his. "Do you really need that stuff?" Beth asked, looking towards the pile of things that had collected on the front lawn.

Daryl's moved over the objects, those hurtful memories trying to push him through the porch, into the earth, and all the way down to Hell. "Prob'ly not…" he replied.

She looked from Daryl to the pile, seeing the pain in his eyes.

"When my Momma died," Beth said, pulling her knees into her chest and wrapping her arms around them to hold her legs close. "It was in her plan to be cremated. Seein' her ashes was sad, since I knew that they used to be a person." Daryl turned his eyes to her, wondering what she was getting at. "For me, it was like ai' had closure when Daddy threw them around the lake where they met. It was a feeling I didn't get when Shawn died…"

Daryl bent his knee to rest his elbow on it, feeling actually a bit amused by what she was suggesting.

"You sayin' I should burn the stuff?" he asked, unable to help the smirk that pulled at the corners of his mouth. Actually, he kind of liked the idea.

Beth turned to face him, her eyes bright. "Yeah! Let's burn it!" she smiled, that beautifully genuine smile that had dazzled him at Club Ford only a few nights ago. Suddenly, while the genuine smile was still partially there, the light in her eyes moved back, and he could tell her thoughts had moved somewhere far away. "Stuff like that... Those things that hurt you so much you can't even tell people about it; you have ta' put it away. You… You gotta stay who you are," she said, her mind obviously back to the present. "Not who you were."

Daryl looked at her, knowing that he must have looked startled, because that's how he felt. Her words begged the question, who was he? Who was he _really? _Besides a man with the Dixon name permanently diminishing his self worth. But if he took away the name… Who exactly was he?

"I'm not sure I believe in whatever the Dixon curse is, Daryl, but real or not, you shouldn't let something like that control you," she said.

He snorted. "Who called it the 'Dixon Curse'?"

"Your brother did," she said simply. "He told me not to get close to you, because of a curse on your family."

Daryl turned his gaze from hers, glaring out in the distance and hoping Merle could feel it. His brother needed to butt out. It wasn't any of Merle's business who he got involved with.

"I think you're better than any curse," she said, earning his attention again. "That's why I think you should burn that pile. Get rid of whatever curse has attached itself to you." She smiled. "Burn away your demons, and be who you are."

This girl was wise beyond her years.

Suddenly Daryl got up, walking into the house and finding the hidden spot where his daddy used to hide his liquor from the police, not at all surprised to find some still stashed away, dust practically covering the bottle. He grabbed two bottles and walked back outside, making sure he had matches in his pocket. He handed her a bottle as he stepped off of the porch, gesturing for her to help.

Smiling, she got up, walking quickly over to stand beside him, opening the bottle and waiting for him to begin.

He twisted off the top, pouring almost all of it onto the pile, taking a large swing of it before pouring the rest out.

Beth did the same, taking a quick gulp before he could object, and coughing as the alcohol burned her throat. "Oh God! This tastes _awful_!" Beth exclaimed, quickly dumping the rest out. He actually laughed at that, taking another swig before he dumped the last of his bottle out.

He picked up some piece of cloth that was utterly covered in the alcohol, and handed her the matches, watching her struggle with one before giving up and trying another, lighting the one successfully and meeting his eyes before she lit the cloth, as if making sure he wanted to continue.

He nodded, watching as the cloth went up in flames, throwing it onto the pile before the fire could reach his hand. The pile quickly lit up, burning bright in a matter of seconds.

Daryl went in and out of his house, grabbing things and making the pile bigger, Beth pouring more gin, or whatever else she had found, onto it to make sure everything would burn.

Once everything Daryl wanted to burn was stacked onto the pile, they watched his demons, his curse, slowly turn to ashes from the porch, sharing some moonshine Daryl had found hidden under a loose floorboard. Beth had gotten used to the flavor and the burn, and so they drank, watching the flames burn until the first morning light could be seen peeking through the trees.

It was then that Daryl realized something, as Beth carefully intertwined her fingers with his, giving him a smile when he glanced her direction. The feeling came when he knew she was fast asleep with her head on his shoulder, as he let the fire turn everything that had once brought him such pain turn to nothing but smoke and ash.

He was in undeniably, even though he had only truly known her for a few days, in love with Beth Greene.


	8. Chapter 8

**_First of all, you guys are lovely, amazing, and I love you all X3 Secondly, I just wanted to note that I've always liked the idea that Daryl fell in love with Beth first, mostly because that's kind of what I felt was happening between them in the actual show; Of course, once Beth realized his feelings, I think she slowly started to reciprocate them. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to go about this just yet as far as Beth's developement goes, but I want to try and make it as similar how their feelings would actually be. _**

**_With that aside, I hope you guys enjoy this update! I had a hard time writing this one, but here it is! The next chapter will be out shortly, so until then, I hope this satisfies you guys :)_**

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><p>Chapter: Eight<p>

Beth walked softly through the woods, feeling as light and fluttery as the moss under her bare feet. She hummed gently, smiling as a warm breeze tugged at the skirt of her sundress, pulling her through the fairytale-like forest.

She closed her eyes for a minute, breathing in the fresh Georgia air, and thought of her sister's wedding. How much she regretted not being able to feel truly happy, and feeling absolutely rotten at the fact that the only reason she had cried was because she was convinced in that moment that she would never feel happiness like Maggie did. The tears that Maggie had wiped away, laughing slightly at Beth's "silliness", had not been happy ones for her sister, but vainly for herself.

She promised herself that It would be different when she went home.

She would be more open, and affectionate. She would have dinner with Glenn and her sister more often, and would convince her father to come too. She would start singing all the time again, hoping in a ridiculous kind of way that she would sing so much that her sister would teasingly complain about it again, just like before.

She would visit Shawn and her mother's graves, since she had refused to do so many times…

And when she cried at the foot of their graves, they would not be tears of sadness for losing them, but tears of joy for the wonderful people they had been while they were living. For the incredible beauty and light her mother had embodied, and that Beth hoped the late Anette Greene had blessed upon her, and for the caring and honest person her brother had been. And of course for her mother's remarkable cooking; especially for the pie that would never taste quite as good to Beth as it had when her mother made it.

Suddenly Beth felt her lungs sting with her next gentle inhale, turning the action sharp, and her eyes shot open as she coughed, the pain causing her to fall to her knees.

Her knees pressed into a unusually sticky, wet soil, and when she looked down, she saw that the ground was covered in blood, and Beth put a hand to her lower rib cage, feeling the wetness seeping through the fabric of her dress. She didn't even have time to scream as she suddenly felt her chin being tilted upwards, those hungry, disturbingly unforgettable eyes baring into hers. She went to cry out, but he grabbed her throat before she could, clenching tight. With her windpipe completely closed, she began scraping at his arm and pushing at his chest to try and loosen his grip, but with her weakened state, she wasn't going to succeed.

She suddenly felt his hot breath on her ear, and revolt tumbled through her gut.

He chuckled, and if he hadn't been holding her throat, she would have whimpered, or puked, again feeling like a pathetic, helpless little girl.

He lifted her up by her throat, pulling her flush against him, and she was powerless to get away, though she was squirming as violently as she could in his grasp. His words slid into her ear and slid down her spine like a snake, and a fear of something worse than dying filled her entire being as he said,

"_You will never get away from me…"_

Suddenly Beth felt arms holding her biceps, and she screamed, thrashing against whoever was holding her. "Lemme' go!" she cried. "Let _go _of me!"

"Beth!" Daryl's voice cut through her fear, and for a moment, she stilled, just enough to see Daryl's cool blue eyes panically searching her own. "Was jus' a nightmare! 'Kay?" he said, still keeping a firm grip on her arms. "Yer' safe here… Yer' safe…" He wanted to keep comforting her as best he could, but something about her expression stopped him.

Beth's eyes were wide open, looking just past him, somewhere in the distance, her face stuck looking utterly disbelieving and terrified. She blinked a few times, as if trying to come back to reality.

"A nightmare?" she asked.

She looked around, realizing that she was in a bedroom, under a fairly warm comforter, through it was a bit too small for the king sized bed. It had been a dream- No... Daryl was right to call it a nightmare. She still felt wrecked by it too, remembering the man's hand coiled menacingly around her neck, and his slicing words…

_It was just a nightmare_, she said to herself, trying to take a few calming breaths.

"Yeah," Daryl replied, letting go of Beth's arms once he was sure she was truly awake. "Looked like a pretty bad one too. You was screamin'... Tried ta' wake ya' up but…" Daryl rubbed the back of his neck, ruffling his hair a bit. "Ya' just wouldn't. Kept on screamin'..."

Beth shook her head, dragging her hands over her face and letting out a quivering breath. "Oh thank God…" she whispered, her gaze catching Daryl's, it calming him to see that she was _really_ looking at him now.

Her gaze was intense, very serious, and he felt a bit small underneath it, only for his heart to be brought to incredible heights when her gaze softened significantly, a small smile gracing her features. She didn't need to say it, he could see the gratitude in her eyes, but she did anyway, looking a little sheepish.

"Thanks, Daryl, for… Ya' know… Tryin' to wake me up. It was pretty awful." As she looked up at him, her light lashes fluttered slightly. His heart thundered in his chest and he had to look away, suddenly feeling the need to run far away from her. Something so beautiful should not be so close to him.

One the other hand, he wanted to touch her in some way… Maybe hold her hand again, or give her a comforting hug, but that was a line he would not let himself cross.

This was Shawn Greene's baby sister for Heaven's sake! She was Hershel's baby girl! What the hell was wrong with him? This was _Beth_; young, blonde haired, blue eyed, with a sweet smile, slender body, a beautiful songstress… He got lost in the maze of his own thoughts and forgot where it was supposed to finish. She was starting to make him feel like a damned idiot.

"Ya' don't have ta' tell me 'bout it," he reassured her, noticing that she was still trying to shake it off. "I'll take ya' out in the woods and start trainin' ya. That way no nightmares'll bother ya' anymore."

The woods.

Beth didn't like the sound of that.

She opened her mouth, almost letting an excuse to stay inside fall from her tongue, but something clicked in her mind, and she locked her jaw. She wasn't going to let some nightmare get the better of her. She had grown up running around in the woods with Maggie and Shawn and had plenty of happy memories about being out in the Georgia wilderness. Even if said "Georgia wilderness" was really just that mile or more stretch of woods that separated the Greene farm from one or two of the other farms around the area. Whoever had broken into the Greene farm had wiggled under Beth's skin, and she didn't like that. Not one bit. So she would do everything in her power to make sure that he wouldn't stay there long.

"Alright," Beth said. "Are we gonna eat first?" she asked as Daryl stood up, walking over to door.

He nodded. "Rick came by 'nd brought some food. I'll make ya' somethin'," he said.

Beth half frowned, half smiled. "Oh Daryl, you don't have to-"

"'S'all right," he interupted. "I wanna. Besides, you jus' had a nightmare. I don' expect ya' to cook for both of us after somethin' like that."

Beth frowned a bit more, looking a bit like a kid as she pouted slightly. "It wasn't that bad…"

"Tell that to mah' bruised arm, Girl," Daryl joked as he walked out of the bedroom. "You get dressed in somthin' good fer' huntin', food'll be ready when yer' out."

"'Kay!" Beth called, suddenly realizing that she didn't really have anything good for hunting.

She paused for a second, realizing exactly what the term, _hunting, _meant. Killing small, poor, defenceless animals for sport. What did hunting have to do with her training? She really didn't like the idea of putting a bullet in some poor fluffy little creature.

She shook her head.

So long as it would help her become stronger, she could deal with it. She had been exposed to plenty of sick and dying animals in her lifetime. She had even helped her father nurse some back to health, but there were always the cases where death was unavoidable. Sure, hunting would be very different from the time she spent helping her father in his veterinary clinic. There, it wasn't her fault at all when those animals had died, but if she went hunting, it would be on her hands.

Beth frowned. After her nightmare, she really didn't think she could handle killing an animal out in the woods, but she would try.

Hopefully he wouldn't make her shoot a rabbit.

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><p>Daryl let out the breath he'd been holding once he was in the kitchen.<p>

He was convinced he had become some kind of nutjob. Bringing some girl to his former home, offering to train her to protect herself, falling in love with her… Jesus. And, to top it all off, now he was taking her into his special little world. Not that he thought the woods were a place only he was allowed, but he considered the area a sanctuary. A place where he could spill his secrets to the silence and never be afraid of peoples scrutiny.

The woods had always been a place of solace nearly all his life, even before his mother had died, and Merle had made him that bow and arrow set for his ninth birthday. After that present had been given to him, then the forest held even more meaning. He had liked to pretend he was robin hood. Not that he would tell that to anybody.

The truth of the matter was that his family had been poor nearly all his life, even during the "Roaring Twenties", but they had truly lost everything when the stock market crashed in 1929, when he was fifteen. He knew about their financial situation during the twenties, since that was as far back as he could remember. His father had been in the military during his infant years, during World War I, and they had a fairly steady income. Merle often talked about then being better times, when they had a nice little house, and their momma looked young and pretty.

It was a miracle his father had come back alive, though Daryl would've preferred if God had saved that miracle for someone else.

His father had been a fucked up wife-beater even before the Crash, Merle telling Daryl, before his older brother had lost all respect for their father, that the war had taken a good toll on their father. He had lost many friends. But when they lost everything, and his father lost his sense of screwed up dignity, it had gotten even worse. The forest had been his only means of escape.

The land was always tranquil, utterly at peace, and in the woods he had learned how to really concentrate, and follow the pathways of other creatures. He took his time, learning their habits, using his information to seek them out.

All on his own, he had learned the ways of the woods. Of course, he had stopped pretending to be a bow and arrow clad vigilante, but he had kept it as his choice of weapon.

Was it really alright to bring her into the place he held so dear?

"Thought you said you were makin' something," Beth joked behind him, and his gaze snapped up to meet hers.

His eyes did a quick sweep over her, confused a bit by her attire since he was used to seeing her in pretty little dresses.

She was wearing her pajama pants tucked into some brown cowboy boots, and what looked like a wooly grey sweater. Was there anything underneath that? He'd give her a shirt of his if there wasn't. Lord knows he wouldn't be able to concentrate if she was walking around bare under that simple sweater. Her hair was pulled up high, and he could see her blushing under his inspection. She pulled at a lock of her hair in embarrassment, twisting it idly into a small braid.

She really needed to not do any of that.

"I don't have any pants besides these…" she said quietly.

"Those'll do fine," he grumbled, grabbing some bread and popping it into the toaster. "Ya' naked underneath that?" he asked, gesturing to her top.

She nodded, her cheeks lighting up and her fingers worked in wild embarrassment extending the braid further.

"Ya' can use one o' mine," he said, moving past her, being careful to keep a good distance between them.

"Ya' don't have to-"

"You gon' argue everytime I try and help ya' out?" he snapped.

She blinked, and then she smiled, the gesture lighting up the room. He was always surprised by her reactions to him. Especially when he said things that didn't really sound all that nice.

"Thank you," she said softly. He just tore his gaze from her, grumbling incoherently as he walked down the hall. There would be a smaller shirt somewhere in his old room, and he figured that it would fit better than anything he wore now.

It was like stepping back in time as his foot crossed into his former bedroom. He hadn't even touched the door knob since before he had left the first time when Merle got locked up for having booze on him and he was left alone with his father for a few months. Or rather, home was where he was _supposed _to have been.

Nonetheless he pushed the memories aside, going over to rummage through his dresser. He found one shirt that seemed suitable and walked back into the kitchen, seeing her buttering their toast as he stepped into the room.

"Here," he said, tapping the shirt on her shoulder.

She turned around slightly and took it, giving him a grateful nod, which he returned kindly. Then she walked back towards the master bedroom, and once he heard the door close behind her, he let his shoulders relax.

Now she would have actual clothes on. Not just some sweater with such an easy to unbutton front… On second thought maybe he shouldn't have said a thing…

He shook his head violently, running an irritated hand through his hair, telling himself to "_kindly shut the holy mother of fuck up_". He didn't need to be thinking about that. So he thought about Hershel while he waited, a man who had earned Daryl's respect in only a matter of days.

The man worked for a living, had good kids, and all in all was the kind of man you could respect. It came easy in fact. Daryl wished his father had been that way in his later years. Hershel had lost everything in The Depression too, not long after fighting for his country in WWI. He lost his home, his family... Everything. He built himself a new life from the ground up, had three children, all equally as respectable as their father in their own ways. Now he lost a son to the second World War, his wife out of sadness, and then, from what he understood, Beth shut down after the losses. Maggie was the only one that seemed to have anything good come along with the past nearly six years. But Hershel greene didn't seem to let any of that break him.

As long as his daughters were alive, everything was worth fighting for.

Daryl thought about Merle briefly, knowing he must be in town by what Beth had said. He hadn't seen Merle since before the war, and their last confrontation hadn't ended well. Maybe after Rick caught whoever broke into the Greene farm, and Beth went home, he could talk to Merle, and make thing right… He'd like to if he could.

"Alright, ay'm ready," Beth said, and he turned to look at her, almost wanting to laugh at how small she seemed.

"'Ere," he said, smiling as he handed her a piece of toast.

"Ay look stupid don't ay…" Beth shook her head.

Daryl shrugged. "Don't need ta' worry 'bout looks out in the woods."

Beth blushed, but recovered from her discomposure quickly, nodding. "Right."

Once they had finished their food, Beth drank a quick glass of milk and Daryl got ready to leave, fishing his crossbow out of one of his boxes.

When they stepped out the door, a warm breeze dusting over each of their bodies, they both felt a nervousness creep up their spines. Daryl was bringing Beth into his sanctuary, and he hoped that once they were there, she would understand what it meant for him to bring let her in. For Beth, this was the time to test her strength of will. She would learn how to defend herself, and hopefully, he could help her become stronger.

They stepped hesitantly through the threshold of the woods, crossing into unknown territory inside a familiar wilderness.


End file.
